Morning arrival into Vienna, where your private driver will welcome you for transfer to your deluxe hotel in the center of the city.

Vienna is a city whose history stretches back over 2,000 years. Originally a Celtic Settlement, it became part of the Roman Empire in 15 BC.  The Romans were forced to leave the region during the fourth century as northern tribes regained their foothold in Eastern Europe.  By 1155, the Babenbergs declared Vienna a “civitas” indicating that it was developing into a well-ordered community.  From this time forward Vienna grew under the influence of the Byzantium Empire, the Orient, Martin Luther, the threat of the Turks, Emperor Franz Joseph, Maria Theresa, Richard the Lion Heart, Karl Marx, and a host of other fascinating events and people, creating one of the world’s great cultural centers.

This morning your guide will meet you in your hotel lobby at 9AM.  Your walk will lead you into the Hofburg Palace Complex and the Spanish Riding School.  This is the oldest and last Riding School in the world where classic dressage is still practiced in its purest form.  

This Institute was founded in 1572 and its very name gives away the fact that the horses were of Spanish origin. The Lipizzaner is regarded as the oldest classic horse race in Europe.  The superb arena - the Winter Riding School in the Vienna Hofburg (Imperial Palace) in which the Riders of the Spanish Riding School train the horses and where they perform was commissioned by Emperor Karl VI. His portrait decorates the white baroque hall built by Josef Emanuel Fischer von Erlach from 1729 to 1735. Since 1920 the presentations of classical dressage have been open to the public.

This morning, schedule permitting, you may visit a practice session of the Spanish Riding School.  You may depart at your leisure and continue with your tour.

Afterwards, you can continue on your walking tour of the Hofburg Palace complex.  Your guide will take you into the lavish private living quarters of Empress Elizabeth and Emperor Franz Joseph from the 18th and 19th Centuries.  Empress Elizabeth (Sisi) was the Austrian’s Princess Di and prior to entering the Imperial Apartments, there is an exhibition of her life, which is quite interesting.

This morning your guide will meet you in your hotel lobby at 9AM.  Your walk will lead you into the Hofburg Palace Complex and the Spanish Riding School.  This is the oldest and last Riding School in the world where classic dressage is still practiced in its purest form.  

This Institute was founded in 1572 and its very name gives away the fact that the horses were of Spanish origin. The Lipizzaner is regarded as the oldest classic horse race in Europe.  The superb arena - the Winter Riding School in the Vienna Hofburg (Imperial Palace) in which the Riders of the Spanish Riding School train the horses and where they perform was commissioned by Emperor Karl VI. His portrait decorates the white baroque hall built by Josef Emanuel Fischer von Erlach from 1729 to 1735. Since 1920 the presentations of classical dressage have been open to the public.

This morning, schedule permitting, you may visit a practice session of the Spanish Riding School.  You may depart at your leisure and continue with your tour.

Afterwards, you can continue on your walking tour of the Hofburg Palace complex.  Your guide will take you into the lavish private living quarters of Empress Elizabeth and Emperor Franz Joseph from the 18th and 19th Centuries.  Empress Elizabeth (Sisi) was the Austrian’s Princess Di and prior to entering the Imperial Apartments, there is an exhibition of her life, which is quite interesting.

Enjoy the afternoon at leisure.

Today meet your driver-guide (one person) for an excursion outside Vienna to some of its most notable wine areas.  Just an hour outside Vienna is the Burgenland region which, because of its location, has historically changed hands between Hungarians and Austrian several times and was even occupied by the Soviet army in the Second World War and not returned to Austria until 1955.  

Now Burgenland features innovative vintners, chefs and artists determined to preserve the area’s old traditions.  It’s gaining popularity as a destination because of its climate, idyllic vineyards producing fine wines, ancient castles, the breathtaking expanses of the Pannonian plains, and the gorgeous Lake Neusiedl.

Today you will also visit Esterhazy Palace in Eisenstadt, once the residence of princes and former home of Josef Haydn.  The magnificent ambiance of the castle dates back to the 1300s and allows you to glimpse how Eszterhazy princes lived in the 1800s.

The Lake Neusiedl area us a UNESCO protected area and is Europe’s largest steppe lake.  You can explore the lake and its surrounding nature for a bit on one of the public boat excursions.

You might want to experience lunch today at Gut Purbach, operated by chef Max Stiegl, who, at 20, was the youngest chef ever to earn a Michelin Star.  Food here is authentic cuisine from local sources, paired, of course, with the region’s best wines.  Reservations are required and the cost of your meal is not included.

Your excursion today will include wine tastings in two local vineyards.

This morning your private driver and guide will meet you and will take you to the famous Schönbrunn Palace, the summer home of the Hapsburgs. The design of Schönbrunn is bound largely with the personality of Maria Theresa, one of the Hapsburg’s greatest Empresses.  Originally designed by Johann Bernhard Fischer Von Erlach, Maria Theresa gave Nikolaus Pacassi the contract to expand the summer palace.  The palace stands today as a combination of Austrian Rococo and Classic Baroque symmetry.  

Later your guide will take you to the Naschmarkt, for a glimpse into one of the best markets in Vienna.  This market dates to the 16th century and now features a huge array of food, from fresh fruits and vegetables, to spices, bread and pastries.  There are also several small restaurants featuring different cuisines – the perfect place to stop for an afternoon respite.

From here you will visit the vibrant Museum Quarter.  You will see one of the finest art museums in Europe, the Museum of the History of Art (Kunsthistorisches Museum) in the Museum quarter.  Here you will find a vast array of paintings including Bruegel, Vermeer, Velazquez, Rubens and Rembrandt.  Also in the collection you will find an important Egyptian collection and other items from antiquity.  This museum houses the personal art collection of the Hapsburgs, built up over the centuries. Indeed, the building itself was constructed for the sole purpose of housing the ever-expanding collection.  

In the same building you will find the newly opened Kunstkammer (Treasure Chamber).  The most important collection of its kind, this part of the museum has been closed for 10 years and will reopen in early 2013.  The collection consists of the Hapsburg’s treasures assembled during the Middle Ages, the Renaissance and the Baroque.  The collection includes over 2,000 pieces of art, including gold, bronze, ivory, ostrich eggs, the horn of the (legendary!) unicorn and Cellini’s golden Saliera (salt cellar), often called the Mona Lisa of sculpture.  The salt cellar alone is insured for over $60 million.

Enjoy the afternoon at leisure.

This morning your local wine expert, Martin, will meet you at your hotel at 9AM.  He acts as your driver and guide today and will pick you up in his VW sedan or similar for your journey outside of Vienna.

Your destination today is the Wachau Valley, located about an hour outside of Vienna.  Your guide is the grandson of one of the area’s original vintners and he knows every little winery and vintner along the way.  Your excursion today will take you literally up into the hills bordering the Danube as you drive through vineyards and small villages.  Your guide will explain a bit about how the region was developed, the type of wines that are the specialty of the region and how different terrain makes different wines, even of the same varietal.

Your trip would not be complete without tastings at two local wineries.  After your tastings, head back into Vienna and enjoy the rest of your afternoon at leisure.

This morning your guide will meet you in your hotel lobby at 9AM for an exploration of some of the notable sites in Vienna’s Jewish history.  There are few European cities whose history is as closely connected with Jewish history as Vienna.  Until 1938, Vienna had a flourishing Jewish community with dozens of synagogues and prayer houses. The prevalent anti-Semitism of the time provided fertile grounds for the racism and terror of the Nazis, which started immediately after the occupation of Austria by the German Wehrmacht in March of 1938.  Coming to terms with the largest crimes in the history of Vienna and Austria is a process that has lasted decades and is still not finished. Since the eighties (the Jewish Welcome Service was founded in 1980), the City of Vienna has made increased efforts to show the history and Jewish heritage in all its complexity.

Begin with a walk through what was once Vienna’s Jewish Quarter- Leopoldstadt.  This former hub of Jewish life contained the city’s finest synagogues, along with a wide array of Jewish shops, clubs, theaters and more.  This was also the Central European stronghold of Zionism and Chassidism.  Today you may visit the Jewish Museum, the Museum at Judenplatz (with the subterranean remains of a medieval synagogue), the Holocaust Memorial at Judenplatz and the Memorial against War and Fascism at Albertinaplatz. You may also see a large region with tombs from the time before 1938 that can be found in the Jewish section of the Central Cemetery.

Morning transfer to the train station for the three-hour train to Salzburg. Arrival in Salzburg, where your personal driver will welcome you for transfer to your deluxe hotel in the city center.  

After check-in and some time to settle in, your English-speaking guide will meet you in the hotel lobby at 2 PM for this afternoon’s overview walking tour of historic Salzburg.  Salzburg's Old Town with its world famous baroque architecture is one of the best-preserved city centers in Europe and was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The Hohensalzburg fortress, strategically located on a hill overlooking the old town, is one of the largest medieval castles in Europe. Originally built in the 11th century as a simple bailey with wooden walls, the structure was gradually expanded and strengthened in the following centuries.  Because the fortress actually never came under a military siege and was surrendered without a fight to Napoleon’s army, this is one of the best-preserved castles in Europe.

You will also see the Salzburg Cathedral, a 17th-century Baroque building which was the site of Mozart's baptism. The church is dedicated to St. Rupert – Salzburg’s patron saint. According to a legend, St. Rupert was the founder of the city, as in the 7th Century he chose to start his Christian mission on the site of an old Roman settlement and called it Salzburg (Salt Castle) after the barges which carried salt from the local salt mines and across the Salzach River.

St. Rupert also founded the Benedictine St. Peter’s abbey, the oldest monastery in Austria. The Romanesque abbey church, still in use today, was dedicated in the 12th Century. Its interiors were refurbished in the Rococo style in the 18th Century. The abbey also houses the oldest library in Austria including 800 ancient manuscripts and some 100,000 volumes, focusing on medieval church history, art history, and items relating to the local history of Salzburg,

Salzburg’s most famous son is of course Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and you will get a chance to visit his birthplace, if you are interested. Mozart’s father was a member of the prince’s chamber orchestra and young Amadeus learned to play the harpsichord at the age of 3. By the age of 5 he was already writing his first compositions. During his short life, Mozart wrote over 50 symphonies and 15 operas, but he died debt-ridden at age 35 and was buried in a mass grave.

Later today, if time allows, you might also like to see the Mirabell Palace, located on the bank of the Salzach River, which was supposedly built by a local archbishop for his Jewish mistress. The palace gardens house the Baroque Museum, featuring an extensive collection of artifacts from the 17th – 18th Century.

Today meet your guide and driver to explore the surrounding countryside.  You can explore the gorgeous Salzkammergut area, including St. Gilgen, Lake Wolfgang, and the Sound of Music wedding church in Mondsee.   This is Austria’s Romantic Road.  Begin at the furthest point with a drive to one of our favorite cities in the area – Hallstatt.  

This area is of stunning natural beauty and Hallstatt a village nestled upon the shorts of a lake.  This town has been famous for its salt mines and has a 7000 year history.  Hallstatt is also the home of the baroque castle Trautenfels, where you can find expositions on local history.  

Bad Ischl is also worth a stop.  This imperial town was frequented by the Hapsburgs.  Today you can stroll the ancient streets of the village and, if you’re interested, stop into the Imperial Villa for a visit to this Hapsburg family summer residence.  There is also a fantastic Konditorei (confectioner) here perfect for an afternoon stack – Konditorei Zauner – right in town at Pfarrgasse 7.

St. Wolfgang is worth a stop to take a ride on the Wolfgangsee Lake.  If you’re so included, there is also a nostalgic railroad here that is the steepest cogwheel railway in Austria and it takes you up the Schafberg Mountain (featured in the Sound of Music)

St. Gilgen is another tiny town along Wolfgangsee Lake.  Here you can take a cable car (weather permitting) up the mountain for stunning panoramic views and nice hiking.  This is called Zwölferhorn (12erhorn).  

Finally, if you’re interested, stop by Mondsee to see its colorful market square and stop at the cloister church used as the wedding church in The Sound of Music.

Your driver-guide will meet you in the hotel lobby this morning at 10 AM.  In the Bavarian Alps, above the Obersalzberg stands the former mountain residence of Hitler. It offers magnificent views across the snowcapped peaks of the surrounding mountains. Passing the Castle Hellbrunn, through Anif, you will arrive at the German border.  If you would like, your driver will take you to the famous salt mines of Salzburg (which are actually now in Germany!).  This fascinating tour will take you deep into the mountains of Salzburg to show you underground lakes, historic and current mining techniques and even exciting wooden slides.

Driving along the Königseeache, through the lovely valley and picturesque farmland to Unterau you start your ascent to the Obersalzberg.  Here you stop to see what is left of Hitler’s mountain compound and to enjoy the wonderful panorama (view of Hitler's Eagle's Nest).  You will then continue down the Königsee or Echo Lake, squeezed among the steep mountain peaks.   Today’s tour also includes a boat ride on the Königsee.

On the way back to Salzburg, you may also stop in villages of Berchtesgaden or Anif, if time permits.  Evening at leisure in Salzburg.

Morning at leisure before checkout and transfer to the airport or train station.